Celebrating contemporary art and music from Africa in the historic city of Évora, Portugal
25 May - 25 August 2018 Preview: 25 May Évora - Portugal
Omar Victor Diop, Aminata, 2013
● More than 30 contemporary artists, musicians and performers from Africa will gather in the city of Évora in Portugal to celebrate the culture and heritage of the continent ● The contemporary art exhibition African Passions, curated by André Magnin and Philippe Boutté, will be accompanied by a music programme and concerts directed by Alain Weber and Alcides Nascimento ● Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Burkina Faso are some of the countries that will be represented in the festival ● Music and dance workshops will be part of the educational programme by the Mozambican music and dance company, the Xindiro Companhia, and by the orchestra of Ballaké Sissoko, master of the kora and Mandingue tradition
From the 25 May until 25 August 2018, the Palace of the Dukes of Cadaval will present Evora Africa festival, a multicoloured and extravagant celebration of African heritage through a diverse programme of exhibitions, concerts, performances, conferences, griots and DJs, in the historic city of Évora in Portugal. With the opening on the 25 May coinciding with Africa Day, African traditions will be preserved and imparted while interlinked with the blossoming contemporary African art scene. Bringing art and music from Africa to Portugal, Evora Africa will retrace the roots and historical connections between the continents while celebrating new urban expressions and the influences on Portuguese culture. Over its 3-month duration, Evora Africa aims to strengthen the cultural bonds and exchange between Africa and Europe.
The contemporary art exhibition, African Passions
Curated by André Magnin and Philippe Boutté, experts in African art, the exhibition African Passions will present some of the greatest representatives of African contemporary art throughout the palace. The exhibition will include works by Steve Bandoma, Filipe Branquinho, Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Omar Victor Diop, Romuald Hazoume. Phumzile Khanyile, Klèmèguè, Houston Maludi, JP Mika, Marcel Miracle, Mauro Pinto, Chéri Samba, Amadou Sanogo, Malick Sidibé and Billie Zangewa. Each artist will present their own culture, style, creative techniques, and their own way of looking at and inventing the world.
Previously Magnin has been the curator and director of the Pigozzi Collection and commissioned exhibitions at the Pompidou Centre, DIA Centre for the Arts, Guggenheim Bilbao, Tate Modern, the Smithsonian, and the Pigozzi Collection. He has also been advisor to the Art/Afrique, Le nouvel Atelier at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. Boutté was the administrator of the Contemporary African Art Collection - The Pigozzi Collection and coordinated its exhibitions in prestigious institutions such as the Grimaldi Forum and the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli.
Magnin and Boutté have worked together on several exhibitions including Beauté Congo 1926 – 2015 Congo Kitoko, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris, 2015; Les Initiés, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2017; and Malick Sidibé – Mali Twist, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris 2017.
The music programme
Under the artistic direction of Alain Weber, the music programme will re-open the Cadaval Palace to African music lovers. A series of concerts will present the major families of African instruments, including the koras, sanzas, balafons, flutes and percussion, and showcase their capacity for invention, their sophistication, and the vast organologic palette of the continent.
The musical programme will represent the concept of the exhibition – a journey between African tradition and heritage, continuity and change, and contemporary culture. It will take place throughout the palace in locations including the Roman Temple, the Cromlech of the Almendres and the Public Library. The performances will provide a reflection of the African beauty on display through the lyrics of griots and solo dancers.
The programme includes concerts and performances by Áfrika Aki, Ballaké Sissoko, Ballaké Sissoko Orquestra, Bambaram, Bassekou Kouyaté, Congo Brazaville, Congo Kinshasa, Congo Stars de Vibration, Mybe Ebrime, Pantsula dance choreographed by Sibusiso Mthembu, The Masks of the Moon, Sara Tavares, Selma Uamusse, Xigubo Zulu Dance, the dancers of Xindiro Companhia, the griot «jeli» and the “Epic of Sundaita”, The Zaouli de Manfla, and DJ sets by Bucabar Djabaté, Celeste Mariposa, Costa Neto, DJ Ibaaku, DJ Lucky, DJ Rycardo, Irmãos Makosa, Johnny Cooltrain, Lady G Brown, Miroca Paris and Rita Só.
In addition to African Passions and the music programme, there will be lectures and conferences, educational activities and public art focused on African music, culture and heritage. Esther Mahlangu will be producing a mural celebrating African heritage, which will become one of the highlights of Evora Africa. Master of the kora and Mandingue tradition, Ballaké Sissoko’s Orchestra will be in Évora for the opening week of the festival to teach the kora. The Xindiro Companhia, a Mozambican music and dance company, will deliver lessons on dance and music in July. This company focuses on providing complementary educational support for local disadvantaged children in Mozambique. Having trained more than 900 children and they will present some of their projects during Evora Africa.
About the location - Cadaval Palace
For over 8 years the Cadaval Palace was home to the Os Orientais Festival dedicated to art and music of the Orient, and which saw cultural celebrations of the rich traditions from the East, Morocco and India. This year, and with Evora Africa, the palace is reopening its doors, now with a focus on Africa.
The Cadaval Palace has been the home and the property of the Dukes of Cadaval’s family since its foundation in the 14th century until today. Built on the ruins of a Moorish castle, and subject to many changes over the centuries, the final result is a unique combination of Mudéjar, Gothic, Manueline and Medieval styles in the different sites of the Palace.
Stood in the historic centre of Évora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, across from the Roman Temple, it features a vast residential area, developing over several floors, two inner gardens and a church, which is the final resting place for every generation of the Dukes of Cadaval family. The church is also of national interest, given its stunning interior, highlighted by azulejo tile panels, signed by their artist, António de Oliveira, and dating from the early 18th century.
The Cadaval Palace is currently the residence of the Duchess of Cadaval and her family, although the church and some of the rooms are open to the public throughout the year, exhibiting rare items: books, charters, arms, paintings, sculptures, furniture, porcelain, portraits and travel accessories, among other objects of value and significant historical interest.
For the last 21 years, the Cadaval Palace has also hosted a series of cultural events: the Classic Évora Festival, The Os Orientais Festival, focused on traditional music from the East, and the Évora Sacred Music Festival, dedicated to traditional and devotional musical heritage of music around the world. The Cadaval Palace often welcomes national and international choirs, for performances open to the public as well as soloists and music groups, and international art exhibitions featuring painting, sculpture and photography, and fashion exhibitions such as Unforgettable Wedding Gowns a haute couture exhibition of wedding gowns curated by Hubert de Givenchy himself as his only exhibition in Portugal to date. More information is available at www.palaciocadaval.com
Press Enquiries: Juan Sánchez Sutton T: +44 (0) 20 7183 3577 E: [email protected]
Co Financed:
Organization:
Institutional Support:
Collaborations:
Supported by:
Editors’ notes
1. AFRICAN PASSIONS - List of Artists
Steve Bandoma Houston MaludI Born in 1981 in Kinshasa, Democratic Born in 1978, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Republic of the Congo of the Congo Lives and works in Kinshasa Lives and works in Kinshasa
Filipe Branquinho JP Mika Born in 1977, Maputo, Mozambique Born in 1980 in Kinshasa, Democratic Lives and works in Maputo, Mozambique Republic of the Congo Lives and works in Kinshasa Frédéric Bruly Bouabré Born c. 1923, Zéprégüé, Ivory Coast Marcel Miracle Died in 2014, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he Born in 1957, Moramanga, Madagascar worked and lived Lives and works in Lausanne and in South Tunisia Omar Victor Diop Born in 1980, Dakar, Senegal Mauro Pinto Lives and works in Dakar Born in 1974, Maputo, Mozambique Lives and works in Maputo, Mozambique Romuald Hazoumè Born 1962, Porto Novo, Benin Chéri Samba Lives and works in Porto Novo Born in 1956, Kinto M'Vuila, Democratic Republic of Congo Phumzile Khanyile Lives and works in Kinshasa, Democratic Born in 1992 in Soweto, South Africa Republic of Congo Lives and works in Johannesburg Amadou Sanogo Born on July 1, 1977 in Ségou, Mali Klèmèguè Lives and works in Bamako, Mali Born 1982, Koutiala, Mali Lives and works in Bamako, Mali Malick Sidibé Born in 1935 in Soloba, Mali Esther Mahlangu Died on April 14, 2016, in Bamako, Mali, where he lived and worked Born in 1935, Middeleburg, South Africa.
Lives and works in Mabhoko Billie Zangewa Born in 1973 in Blantyre, Malawi, Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa
2. Evora Africa Music Programme
Friday 25 May Saturday 26 May ● 19:00 - Private VIP / Press Opening Opening ● 20:30 - Ballaké Sissoko (solo), Mali ● 11:00 - Lecture Venue: Cadaval Palace The art of Ndebele painting, and ● 22:00 - Ritual workshop: Esther Mahlangu, presents The Masks of the Moon– Bwaba her mural created especially for the Ceremony, Burkina Faso festival Venue: Roman Temple Venue: Cadaval Palace ● 23:00 - DJ Afro Bal ● 16:00 - Lecture Celeste Mariposa, Portugal Ethnomusicologist, Anne Laure Venue: Cadaval Palace Bourget Venue: Public Library ● 18:00 - Sunset Performance The griot « jeli » and the “Epic of Sunday 24 June Sundaita » - Mali ● 11:00 - Afro Brunch Venue: Cadaval Palace Johnny Cooltrane, Angola ● 21:00 - Concert Venue: Cadaval Palace Ballaké Sissoko Orquestra – The art of the kora, between masters and young Saturday 30 June disciples - Mali ● 11:00 - Lecture, African music in Venue: Roman Temple Portugal through its social context and ● 22:00 - Ritual history The Masks of the Moon– Bwaba Venue: Public Library Ceremony, Burkina Faso ● 15:00 - Movie * Venue: Roman Temple Venue: Cadaval Palace ● 23:00 - DJ Afro Bal ● 18:00- Sunset Performance Costa Neto, Mozambique Mbye Ebrime, Gambia Venue: Cadaval Palace Venue: Cadaval Palace ● 21:00 - Concert Sunday 27 May Bambaram, Guinée-Bissau ● 11:00 - Afro Brunch ● 23:00 - DJ Afro Bal The griot « jeli » and the “Epic of DJ Rycardo, Angola Sundaita »- Mali Venue: Cadaval Palace Venue: Cadaval Palace
A children's workshop program of days to FESTIVAL WEEKEND follow: The art of the kora by Ballaké Sissoko’s Friday 13 July students ● 18:00 - Children’s programme ● Monday 28 May – 15:00 Performance ● Tuesday 29 May – 15:00 Xigubo Zulu Dance ● Wednesday 30 May – 15:00 The young dancers of Xindiro ● Thursday 31 May – 15:00 Companhia, Mozambique Venue: Cadaval Palace Venue: Cadaval Palace ● 21:00 - Evening concert Tuesday 29 May - Full Moon Bassekou Kouyaté, Mali ● 21:00 - Ritual *This concert is presented in The Masks of the Moon– Bwaba partnership with the Aga Khan Music Ceremony, Burkina Faso Initiative, a programme of the Aga Venue: Cromlech of the Almendres Khan Trust for Culture Venue: Cadaval Palace Saturday 9 June ● 23:00 - DJ Afro Bal ● 22:00 - DJ Afro Bal Moriké Keita aka Mo DJ, Electronic Irmãos Makosa, Angola / Italy Marabout, Mali Venue: Cadaval Palace Venue: Cadaval Palace
Sunday 10 June Saturday 14 July ● 11:00 - Afro Brunch ● 11:00 - Lecture: a presentation of Irmãos Makosa, Angola / Italy Xindiro Companhia and its children Venue: Cadaval Palace focusing on how culture is a vehicle for social reintegration - with Alexandra Saturday 16 June de Cadaval and Inacio João Mavunga ● 22:00 - DJ Afro Bal ● 15:00 - Movie: Mozambico, sketching Rita Só, Portugal the music Venue: Cadaval Palace Venue: Cadaval Palace ● 18:00 Sunday 17 June Pantsula dance, South Africa ● 11:00 - Afro Brunch Dancers: Sibusiso Mthembu, David Rita Só, Portugal Mokale, Jabu Dlamini, Nkosana Venue : Cadaval Palace Mlauzi, Pule Ngcaba, Pele Gae Artistic Director: Sello Modiga aka. Saturday 23 June “ZILO” ● 22:00 - DJ Afro Bal Choreographed by Sibusiso Mthembu Johnny Cooltrain, Angola Music by Mataupane Venue : Cadaval Palace Venue : Cadaval Palace
Evening concert - a tribute to Mozambican ● 21:00 - Concert dance and music The Zaouli de Manfla, Ivory Coast 21:00 Venue: Roman Temple First Part ● 23:00 - DJ Afro Bal Xigubo Zulu Dance DJ Lucky, Angola The young dancers of Xindiro Venue: Cadaval Palace Companhia, Mozambique Second Part Sunday 29 July Selma Uamusse, Mozambique 11:00 - Afro Brunch Venue : Cadaval Palace Bucabar Djabaté, Guinée Bissau 23:00 - DJ Afro Bal Venue : Cadaval Palace Miroca Paris, Cape Verde Venue: Cadaval Palace Saturday 12 August Sunday 15 July ● 22h00 - DJ Afro Bal Lady G Brown, Angola ● 11:00 - Conference on Pantsula Venue : Cadaval Palace dance by Dr Daniela Goeller Art historian and research associate at Sunday 13 August Université de Paris 1 Panthéon ● 11h00 - Afro Brunch Sorbonne / Institut A.C.T.E. / CNRS Lady G Brown, Angola Aesthetics of Performing and Venue : Cadaval Palace Spectacular Arts (EsPAS) Venue: Public Library ● 15:00 - Pantsula dance workshop LAST WEEKEND FULL MOON Choreographed by Sibusiso Mthembu Friday 24 August Friday 27 July - Full Moon ● 23h00 - DJ Afro Bal DJ Ibaaku, Senegal ● 22:00 - Ritual Venue: Cadaval Palace The Zaouli de Manfla, Ivory Coast Venue: Cromlech of the Almendres Saturday 25 August ● 21:00 - Evening concert Saturday 28 July Sara Tavares, Portugal, Cape Verde ● 11:00 - Lecture: The Zaouli de Manfla Venue: Roman Temple dance ● 23h00 - Live Afro Bal ● Movie Last Party - Congo Stars de Vibration, Venue: Cadaval Palace Angola, Congo Kinshasa and Congo ● 18:00 - Sunset concert Brazaville Áfrika Aki, Afro Palop Venue: Cadaval Palace. Venue: Cadaval Palace
3. Curators’ Biographies
Alexandra de Cadaval - Director
Since gaining a degree in Cultural Industries from City University London in 2005, Alexandra has been entirely devoted to music and arts, working especially in the preservation of traditional art forms. Working closely with renowned French musicologist Alain Weber, in recent years she has directed music and cultural festivals including the Festival Os Orientais in Portugal, and the current World Sacred Spirit Festival in India.
Alexandra organised the first solo exhibition of Mozambican artist Gonçalo Mabunda, titled Game of Thrones, at the Pierre Passebon Gallery in Paris in 2015. She also directed the exhibition series Dá Licença, by acclaimed Mozambican photographer Mauro Pinto in Évora, within the palace belonging to her family, the Cadaval Palace. She is currently working Mauro Pinto to challenge the contemporary with the traditional, involving the protection of the masked expressions of the Bwaba ethnic group in Burkina Faso.
Alexandra has a real passion for Africa and its arts, finding her joie de vivre as much within the rural and the urban as through traditional and contemporary. She creates dynamic platforms that challenge the spectator to think differently.
Alexandra has also worked extensively in humanitarian aid, as a volunteer worker for the Portuguese NGO APOIAR, and in Mozambique with the Ministries of Culture and of Foreign Affairs, the Institute of Higher Socio-Cultural Studies of Mozambique. She is also the founding member of hOUVE, an association aimed at developing communities through education and arts. In 2009, she was invited to serve at the Embassy of the Order of Malta to Mozambique, for which she held the role of temporary advisor, and she is currently Head of Mission of the Ordre de Malte France, developing all of its local projects since 2012.
Hopping between Europe and Africa, while spending time in India, Alexandra works to platform traditional music and dance, while striving to find solutions for improving living conditions and health problems in rural communities. She has created events in urban slums, using traditional music to promote individual self-esteem while encouraging the social reintegration of marginalized children and teenagers, and of people dealing with the painful consequences of war.
André Magnin - Exhibition Curator
Freelance exhibition curator André Magnin conducted research in 1986 into art in non-western cultures for Magiciens de la Terre, the first world contemporary art exhibition, shown in 1989 at the Pompidou Centre and at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris. From 1989 to 2009, he established and directed The Pigozzi Collection (Geneva), dedicated entirely to contemporary art from sub-Saharan Africa. In 2009 he founded MAGNIN-A, the mission of which is to promote African contemporary art in the international market.
André Magnin has curated many exhibitions, including: World Envisioned: Alighiero e Boetti and Frédéric Bruly Bouabré (Dia Center for the Arts, New York / American Center, Paris, 1995); African Art Now (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2005); 100% Africa (Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, 2006); and Arts of Africa (Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, 2013). Magnin has been the curator at the Cartier Foundation for the exhibitions: Seydou Keïta (1994), Malick Sidibé (1995), Bodys Isek Kingelez (1995), J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere (2000), J’aime Chéri Samba (2004) and more recently Beauté Congo: 1926-2015 Congo Kitoko, from July 2015 to January 2016.
Philippe Boutté - Exhibition Curator
Philippe Boutté is the director and co-founder of MAGNIN-A and works alongside André Magnin. He is committed to the promotion of emerging and established artists on the international scene, such as Chéri Samba, Omar Victor Diop, Romuald Hazoumè, J.P. Mika, and J.D. Okhai Ojeikere amongst others.
He worked with André Magnin in the curation of exhibitions, Beauté Congo 1926 – 2015 Congo Kitoko, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris, 2015, Les Initiés, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2017; Malick Sidibé – Mali Twist, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris 2017, and he was co-curator of the exhibition Malick Sidibé : the Eye of Modern Mali at Somerset House in 2016 and at the Red Hook Labs in 2017.
Previously, Boutté worked as an administrator of the Contemporary African Art Collection - The Pigozzi Collection, coordinating its activities and exhibitions in museums, art centers and prestigious institutions such as the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain (Paris), the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), the Grimaldi Forum (Monaco), the Guggenheim (Bilbao), the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, (Turin), the Smithsonian Institution (Washington) and the Tate Modern (London).
Alain Weber - Musical Artistic Director
Alain Weber dedicates his work to traditional music, specialising in particular in the Orient and gypsy music. Weber develops art forms through artistic concepts and festivals, presenting artists from remote parts of the world, sacred and social traditions, and ideas about ecological ways of life.
Founder of the famous Musicians of the Nile from Upper Egypt, Weber started his career living, studying and learning music with the traditional gypsy musicians from Luxor. This led him to direct famous international festivals such as The Fes festival of World Sacred Music, The World Spirit Sacred Festival in Nagaur and Jodhpur, “Les Orientales” festival in France, The Evora Orientale festival in Portugal and the Kamandjati festival in Palestine.
Weber has worked on many other significant music initiatives including Children Today - Musicians Tomorrow as part of Mission 2000 for the Cité des Enfants in Blois and Expo 2000 in Hanover. This focused on the survival of traditions in the world through children musicians who came from around the world to present their art.
Weber has also been a musical consultant for the Théâtre de la Ville and has produced many concerts and artists from the Arab world for this venue, such as Sheikh Yasîn al-Tuhami, Sheikh Barrayn and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tunî.